¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof, saying,

² Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

³ And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt certainly be taken, and given into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

⁴ Only, hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus saith Jehovah as to thee: Thou shalt not die by the sword;

⁵ thou shalt die in peace, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn for thee; and they will lament for thee, Ah, lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah.

⁶ And the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem.

⁷ And the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these were amongst the cities of Judah, the fenced cities that were left.

⁸ The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them:

⁹ that every man should let his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, go free, that none should exact service of them, [that is,] of a Jew his brother.

¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people that had entered into the covenant obeyed, every man letting his bondman and every man his bondmaid go free, that none should exact service of them any more: they obeyed, and let [them] go.

¹¹ But afterwards they turned, and caused the bondmen and the bondmaids whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for bondmen and for bondmaids.

¹² And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

¹³ Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,

¹⁴ At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

¹⁵ And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

¹⁶ but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids.

¹⁷ Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you over to be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁸ And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, -- the calf which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

¹⁹ -- the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;

²⁰ them will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.

²¹ And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

²² Behold, I command, saith Jehovah, and I will cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

¹ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

² Thus saith Jehovah the doer of it, Jehovah that formeth it to establish it, Jehovah is his name:

³ Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and I will shew thee great and hidden things, which thou knowest not.

⁴ For thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down because of the mounds and because of the sword:

⁵ They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

⁶ Behold, I will apply a healing dressing to it and cure, and I will heal them, and will reveal unto them an abundance of peace and truth.

⁷ And I will turn the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel, and will build them, as at the beginning.

⁸ And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

⁹ And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear of all the good that I do unto them; and they shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

¹⁰ Thus saith Jehovah: In this place of which ye say, It is waste, without man and without beast! in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

¹¹ there shall again be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give ye thanks unto Jehovah of hosts; for Jehovah is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever, -- of them that bring thanksgiving unto the house of Jehovah. For I will turn the captivity of the land as in the beginning, saith Jehovah.

¹² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In this place which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, there shall again be a habitation of shepherds causing [their] flocks to lie down.

¹³ In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that counteth [them], saith Jehovah.

¹⁴ Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will perform the good word which I have spoken unto the house of Israel and unto the house of Judah.

¹⁵ In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶ In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety. And this is the name wherewith she shall be called: Jehovah our Righteousness.

¹⁷ For thus saith Jehovah: There shall never fail to David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸ neither shall there fail to the priests the Levites a man before me to offer up burnt-offerings, and to burn oblations, and to do sacrifice continually.

¹⁹ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰ Thus saith Jehovah: If ye can break my covenant [in respect] of the day, and my covenant [in respect] of the night, so that there should not be day and night in their season,

²¹ [then] shall also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites, the priests, my ministers.

²² As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

²³ And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁴ Hast thou not seen what this people have spoken, saying, The two families that Jehovah had chosen, he hath even cast them off? And they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

²⁵ Thus saith Jehovah: If my covenant of day and night [stand] not, if I have not appointed the ordinances of the heavens and the earth,

²⁶ [then] will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so as not to take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will turn their captivity, and will have mercy on them.